Marco Almeida (footballer, born 1977)

Marco Almeida
Personal information
Full name Marco António Bernardo Parcana Almeida
Date of birth (1977-04-04) 4 April 1977
Place of birth Barreiro, Portugal
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Centre back
Youth career
1988–1995 Sporting CP
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–2000 Sporting CP 5 (2)
1995–1996 → Casa Pia (loan)
1996–1997 → Lourinhanense (loan)
1998–1999 → Campomaiorense (loan) 21 (2)
1999 → Southampton (loan) 1 (0)
2000–2001 Campomaiorense 20 (1)
2001–2004 Alverca 76 (5)
2004–2005 Ciudad Murcia 3 (0)
2005–2006 Maia 23 (1)
2006–2007 Portimonense 24 (2)
2007–2008 Nea Salamis 3 (0)
2008–2009 Lourosa 9 (2)
2009–2011 Akritas Chlorakas 36 (2)
Total 221 (17)
National team
1996–1997 Portugal U20 14 (0)
1998–2000 Portugal U21 18 (3)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Marco António Bernardo Parcana Almeida (born 4 April 1977) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a central defender.

He started his career with Sporting, going on to amass Primeira Liga totals of 90 games and five goals over the course of six seasons, also representing in the competition Campomaiorense and Alverca. He also competed professionally in England, Spain and Cyprus.

Football career

Almeida was born in Barreiro, Setúbal District, and played youth football with Sporting Clube de Portugal. He started his senior career with Casa Pia A.C. on loan, moving to Sporting Clube Lourinhanense in 1996 as the latter acted as feeder club to the Primeira Liga giants. For the 1998–99 season, still in the top level, he was again loaned, now to S.C. Campomaiorense.

In July 1999 Almeida was signed by Southampton's manager Dave Jones on a year's loan, with a view to a permanent move.[1] After impressing in pre-season friendlies[2] he made his first-team debut as a 71st-minute substitute for Claus Lundekvam in a Premier League match against Arsenal at the Dell, on 19 September 1999: within eight minutes, he was alongside fellow substitute Thierry Henry just outside the Southampton area, when the latter received a pass from Tony Adams. He stumbled while trying to clear the ball, allowing Henry to wrap his foot around the ball and send a rocket of a shot into the far corner of the Southampton net, in what was the Frenchman's first goal in English football.[3]

Although Almeida made a few appearances for the Saints' reserves, including scoring in a 2–2 draw with Chelsea on 22 September 1999, he was never again called into the main squad and, in December, the loan was cancelled.[4] In the same country, he would also have unsuccessful trials with Bolton Wanderers in September 2000[5] and Cardiff City (managed by former Southampton boss Jones) in 2007; subsequently he returned to Sporting, being released in the following summer after which he re-joined Campomaiorense, now as a free agent.

Almeida's most steady period came at F.C. Alverca, which he helped promote from the Segunda Liga in his second year by netting a career-best five times in 32 games. After three seasons he moved abroad again, going almost unnoticed at Ciudad de Murcia – Spanish Segunda División – and he subsequently returned to his country, playing one campaign apiece with second-tier sides F.C. Maia and Portimonense SC.

In the following years Almeida, already in his 30s, alternated between his country's lower levels and Cypriot football.

References

  1. ↑ 'Detonator' breaks bank at Coventry
  2. ↑ Solid start is a must for Dean
  3. ↑ Henry, from also-ran to thoroughbred
  4. ↑ Football: Saints let Almeida go back home
  5. ↑ Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. p. 473. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
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